


The Hard Way

by inthesnowglobe



Series: The Easy Way or the Hard Way [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Drug Dependence, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, F/M, Rape Aftermath, Sequel, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:16:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1234639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthesnowglobe/pseuds/inthesnowglobe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second half to my controversial fic The Easy Way or the Hard Way.</p><p>Just like the first half, I dont know what the hell I'm doing here. The second half will be a bit fluffier but not by much so get ready. This has been a dark story from the beginning and will surely continue to be dark. I'm just kind of morbid that way.</p><p>Let's see where Sansa and Sandor go after the fallout of his confession....</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hard Way

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, well, here it is. I hope this clears up some of the confusion. I like where this is heading. If those of you who didnt like the ending to the first half would give me another chance, im pretty sure you will like this. maybe not this chapter exactly bc you were so disappointed in the last one of TEWOTHW.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading as always. This fic has meant a lot to me. I hope it does to you.

I. Arya

Sansa was mumbling in her sleep again.

She had been doing that a lot ever since she had found out Sandor had been the one that had put her name in the hat for Ramsay's torture chamber. She couldn’t sleep alone and was often fitful.

She said his name a lot.

Arya didn’t know which was worse, losing your true love or being betrayed by them. Between Sansa's recent behavior and Arya's own pain, it seemed like a draw.

“Sandor,” Sansa moaned beside her.

 _Gross_.

Arya had been pretty lethargic since Gendry had been killed, but when Sansa had told her that it was Clegane that had personally chosen sweet and innocent Sansa to be the pawn to get to the king, Arya had had to have been physically restrained from taking off after him and slitting his throat. She hadn’t felt hatred like this since she had watched with morbid satisfaction as Clegane himself had shoved Jaime Lannister to his knees and pointed his gun at his head. Sandor had turned to Arya and offered her the grip of his .45.

She had taken it.

The gratification from killing Jaime was sweet but fleeting when Gendry was still lost to her forever.

Beside her, Sansa whimpered and her eyes flew open. She was breathing rapidly.

“You were dreaming about him again,” Arya said simply. “You said his name.”

“Yeah,” Sansa said groggily as she sat up. “This was weird though.”

“Why?”

“I dreamed I got married to Arys but I was always thinking of him all the time anyway,” Sansa said.

“That was a dream. Arys is definitely a lot better looking but isn’t really the marrying type,” Arya scoffed.

“You went to Braavos to go to art school,” Sansa added.

Arya nodded. “That would be cool.”

An uncomfortable silence spanned the minutes until Arya spoke up. “Do you think that that is the way it will always be if you don’t forgive him? That you will always regret it?” Arya asked quietly.

Sansa shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“I think you would regret it,” Arya said more to her self than to Sansa.

Sansa nodded and sighed heavily.

“You know, it could have been me or mom,” Arya said slowly and carefully. “He didn't know you except that you were nice and pretty. You were the most valuable bargaining chip.”

“Like I should be _flattered_ by that?” Sansa said as she gaped at Arya.

“No. I was just noting that he noticed how valuable you were from the beginning.”

Sansa nodded again and stared pensively down at her lap. “I was no more valuable to dad then you were.”

“I know. But you were to him. Look at everything he went through to keep you safe. Far be it from me to defend that ogre but I don’t see it as a deal-breaker. I got pissed when you told me but honestly, it was mostly because I blamed him for Gendry,” Arya said. She could feel her voice shaking. “I blamed him for getting Gendry to help clean up the mess he had made.”

A stream of tears leaked down Sansa's face. “You know, I feel guilty about Gendry.”

“Sansa,” Arya began.

“I know I shouldn't. But I still do sometimes,” Sansa broke in quickly. She paused for a long time as she seemed to struggle with words. “Would I be crazy if I forgave him?”

“No, but you would be crazy if you told anyone else what he confessed to you,” Arya said seriously. “Robb and Brynden would seriously kill him.” She paused with her own internal stuggle for the right thing to say. “Do you have some weird thing for Arys?”

_Not your finest, Arya._

Sansa gave a small huff of laughter. “No! Gross. Robb told me that he had been playing Cersei the whole time. Why?”

“Well, you did just dream that you got married to the slut.”

Sansa gave a huff of laughter. “He is a nice guy but I think that was just because of something he had said to me before I sneaked out to see Sandor. He said I could do better than Sandor. He said he thought my family would approve of him. He asked me to consider it.”

“Have you?!”

“No!” Sansa responded exasperatedly. “It was just there in my head,” she said waving the disturbing thought away.

Arya nodded pensively. “Do you think you could do better?”

“According to me or to our family?” Sansa replied bitterly.

“You. Fuck our family. They would have never given the go ahead with Gendry.” Arya struggled to keep the sting of tears out of her eyes. “You have to go with your gut sometimes, Sansa. Sack up and do what you want.”

Sansa nodded. “Yeah, I just don’t know.”

“Well, you have to choose for yourself. Don’t let what the family will think influence you,” Arya said thoughtfully.

“I know,” Sansa sighed heavily again. “I need to sleep.”

“Want a bowl?”

Sansa smiled. “No,” she said as she rolled over onto her side. “You are terrible, Arya.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sansa continued to smile as she closed her eyes. The curve at her lips faded as her breathing slowed and became a steady rhythm as she fell asleep.

Arya looked down at her sister that she had always thought was silly and foolish. She looked down to the bandaged hand that was resting on the pillow beside Sansa's head and felt a shiver run up her spine. Arya brought her hand up to Sansa's perfectly smooth hair and began to pet her sister as she slept. Sansa nuzzled into her pillow and sighed satisfactorily.

Arya felt the sting of the tears threaten her composure again.

Sansa would forgive Clegane. They would get back together some day.

She wished that she could be so lucky.

Arya pulled her hand away from Sansa's silky hair and tiptoed out of the room. She could hear the sounds of the TV still blaring downstairs in the living room. Edmure was surely still up. Instead of making her way down to him, she crept silently towards his room.

_Quiet as a shadow._

Arya lifted the lid on the tin that he kept his premium weed in. 

It was empty. She was sure that he had moved when he had noticed the speed with which it was disappearing. 

She was going to have to find some other distraction.

**Author's Note:**

> also, I am EXTREMELY sorry for any confusion. And for any defensive comments that i had made about it. This has been my baby for the entire Ao3 writing "career" so i did get a little frustrated by some of the comments. They were all coherent well thought out responses and completely justified. I did want to put a bit of a wild twist on the end of that part of the series and i thought that it would be much more well received. I do realize that any kind of public writer is obligated (to a point) to please its readers and what i didnt totally understand at first, is that solely BC i am not getting paid for these fics in anyway other than the feedback that i get from my readers, it is one of the best forms of payment that any writer can receive. 
> 
> To any of the reviewers that i didnt respond to or any of the reviewers that were ANON:
> 
> This is my apology. Im sorry that your individual responses were not addressed. Many of them were the same in that they were pinpointing the same issues. 
> 
> Give it another chance. I dont think you will be disappointed. Thank you sincerely for your feedback (it has all been taken into consideration and is, despite a few of my comments, appreciated.) and thank you for your continued support! :)


End file.
